The invention relates to a device for collecting, transmitting, and processing data stored in code, preferably in bar code, and comprising a battery-fed wand reader with a processing and transmitting unit for radiating the information in the form of electromagnetic waves, and a stationary receiver physically separated from the wand reader and to which other processing circuitry is connected.
Nowadays, an increasing number of manufacturers are providing their articles in the food as well as in the non-food trade with a machine-readable code which, for example, is a bar code in accordance with the European Articles Number (EAN). In this case, codes on coded packages can be sensed by means of gun readers or reading devices, and the codes are fed into data memories for further processing. This enables rapid, inexpensive and, above all, comprehensive monitoring of the merchandise being entered and issued.
It is common practice to connect such wand or gun readers with the recording unit by means of cables. This renders the reading unit stationary or it makes the use of an unwieldy long cable mandatory. It is likewise common practice to provide wand readers with memories and with a transmitter for radiating electromagnetic waves, the information being stored and, from time to time, transmitted to a stationary receiving station via a wireless transmission circuit. However, mobile use of such a wand or gun reader is well-nigh impossible, because it would result in an unusually high error rate. The transmission circuits employed, more particularly infrared circuits, are interference-prone because of environmental conditions.